Thanks, Finski. I really don't know if there are large scale beeks around this area or even state forests which are suitable for bees. They do list National Parks in that document. I don't think it would be easy to get permission to have bees in a national park. There is a national park about 200km west which is known for its wildflowers around October!

I got approval from "she who must be obeyed" for 3. After the latest swarm I've now 9.. and I'm now running out of places to put my honey. Incidentally "she who must be obeyed" now delights in looking out the kitchen window and saying... look your bees have swarmed again

10 now.. another lot swarmed this morning and are now housed in a nuc and super. On Sunday I'll combine them in a deep and shallow super with the swarm from the other day. I only wanted a few hives this year but things have really got out of hand. The hives are building up so quickly it is hard to keep up with things. I am taking honey from swarms that are only a few months old.

I am out of wooden ware, only a couple of shallow frames to go into the nuc for today's swarm.. 3 of the hives are heavily bearded so I am running around like a blue arsed fly doing all makeshift things. Bits of board or ply are making up temporary lids, the same with floors.. no time to make SHB traps.. just relying on the strength of the hives to deal with that. I did manage to get the extraction gear cleaned up this morning before they swarmed so maybe I am that little bit closer to getting things under control again, So busy trying to keep ahead of the swarms that I have no time to extract.. the supers are full and they have built comb into the migratory lids...

And to think I started 09 with no hives and caught a couple of swarms

ANYONE WANT SOME BEES??????????

Maybe I could scrape the bees making the beards off the front of the hives and drop them into a box with a frame of eggs

Matt if you read this email me your phone number and the next swarm is yours :lol: